There have always been hackers. People who challenge the rules, think outside the box, and pool their knowledge and resources have been responsible for all sorts of inventions and discoveries over the centuries. With computers, phones, and the rise of the technocratic state, their importance and visibility have multiplied dramatically. But with that visibility has come fear from those who don’t understand.

In a post-9/11 world, hackers have become almost as much of a “threat” as terrorists. Laws that have been hastily passed in countries all over the world demonize acts of exploration as if they were the real threats to society. The result of this sort of suppression will be a culture of fear and suspicion where technological progress slows to a crawl. Emmanuel Goldstein has witnessed the growth of the hacker world over the past few decades. Something that for him started as fun and games has turned into a global phenomenon with very serious implications.

About Emmanuel:

Emmanuel Goldstein is the editor and cofounder of 2600, which has been publishing since 1984. He traces his hacker roots to his college days at the State University of New York at Stony Brook in the late 1970s. In fact, he wound up being the focus of an FBI raid on campus in 1983. He is also the chief organizer of the Hackers On Planet Earth conferences, which have been held in New York City since 1994, bringing thousands of hackers from around the globe together to trade stories and techniques.

Emmanuel hosts America’s only hacker radio show which airs on New York City’s WBAI 99.5 FM every Wednesday evening. The program has also become extremely popular over the Internet. In addition, he directed/produced the film on the Kevin Mitnick story entitled “Freedom Downtime.” To this day Emmanuel enjoys playing with phones, operators, and customer service representatives worldwide. His passions include urban exploration, mind exploration, and space exploration.